Names by year
When in doubt, make sure the character names are reasonable for the era, based on popularity of the birth year. The SSA provides listings by year, here: http://www.ssa.gov/cgi-bin/popularnames.cgi Very, very handy.
Truby Scene Weaving Meets the Beat Sheet
My brain really wrapped around the idea of a Beat Sheet when I read “Nail Your Novel”. It was an expansion of what I learned from Chris Soth’s mentorship and his Mini-Movie Method. I’ve blathered before about Truby’s Anatomy of Story, and it’s the combination of his Scene Weave exercise with the Beat Sheet that … Read more
A Parasitic View of Trilane.com
I kept a browser tab open to Trilane.com for the past year, specifically to their screenplay format reference. I have books, but it’s simpler, when writing online, to use online reference. It seemed like I needed it every day; I didn’t, but it seemed that way. I finally read their front page and, by gosh, … Read more
The Art of Commuting
I have been driving into downtown Lansing, on and off, for 24 years. I have come at the problem from all angles. The roads leading into Lansing haven’t changed much in these past two decades. I am very familiar with all of them. In fact, I’m fairly certain that the roads follow paths that have … Read more
Good Deeds
In the movie “Contagion”, the transfer mechanism that spreads the deadly virus is the combination of touching an infected object and then touching your eyes, nose, or mouth before disinfecting your hands. The deadly little monsters are everywhere, it turns out, and our strange habits of self-soothing lead to our demise. Riding the bus had … Read more